(WBIR) An East Tennessee group is extra thankful for the Vols kicking off the season on a Sunday because it means they can take part in all the excitement for the first time ever.

The Jewish group, Chabad of Knoxville, joined with Chabad of Chattanooga and Hillel at the University of Tennessee, to host its first ever Tennessee tailgate.

The Jewish community celebrates Shabbat and holds services on Saturdays, which is normally when college football games are played. That makes it impossible for more observant Jews to tailgate football games.

But, the Sunday kickoff created the unique opportunity for them to join in on the fun.

"It's amazing because you hear so much about it, but you actually get to do it now and like we're the ones lighting up the grill and serving up the food out and it's a great feeling being able to feed so many people today, it's a lot of fun," Arye Perlstein, one of the Rabbis from Chabad.

He said the experience has been fun and they've had a chance to teach many people about Kosher foods. He said Trader Joe's helped sponsor part of the event and has the largest Kosher selection in Knoxville.

"People don't realize how much is Kosher and today I think as they see like some of the awesome food coming off the grill they'll start realizing its not that hard, it's cool," Perlstein said.

After the tailgate, the group planned to head into the stadium. They even learned the words to "Rocky Top" in Hebrew.